This might be the first car video we’ve put up here, but don’t worry – we’re not getting soft… it just so happens that this is a nice intro to the fine art passing (without killing anyone). Timing a pass well is not kid’s stuff, it’s a skill of its own. There are plenty of riders who can get around a track briskly but can’t pass slower riders for their lives… The video features passing in the brake zone. This is what you see most often in televised motorcycle racing, but it is not the easiest way to pass (in my opinion) on a motorcycle. What are some other ways are there to pass?  Here are three more:

1. Passing on the outside: is only really possible if the rider ahead of you is much slower. On a bike, you do not ride side by side around a corner like the car does in the video; otherwise you are likely to get run off the road at the exit. Instead, you have to be fast enough to pass at the apex before the other rider drifts out toward the exit.

2. Passing on the exit: to do this you have to be faster in that particular turn than the bike ahead of you… You hang back enough to let the other rider apex ahead of you, then you power out on the inside of the turn at the exit.

3. Passing on the straight: If your bike has an equal amount of power as the bike ahead of you, the one who does the last corner (before a straight) better will be faster down the straight. Even your bike has more horsepower, it’s possible for a more skilled rider on a lesser bike to pass you on the straight by having better corner speed (on the last turn) and getting on the power earlier down the straight. THIS is the best, safest and easiest way to pass: to get ahead of the other rider on the straight before getting in line to brake for the next turn.

But the key word for all this stuff is “safety.” You are not passing well if you’re not passing safely, or if you’re surprising people mid-corner. Not cool. Good riders are able to bide their time and wait to make a nice clean pass. Got any other tips on learning the art of passing? Share the wealth in the comments section!

Related posts:

1. Why you can’t throttle to pass…
2. Learning to pass…
3. Why the ‘Slow in, Fast out’ Technique is NOT a myth…

So you put the bike away for a few weeks, and now it feels different. In aviation, when pilots take a break for a couple of months, they have to get re-certified before they can fly a commercial jet; even after flying for years and having tens of thousands of flying hours… The complex combination of skills and near-automatic responses required to fly a motorcycle can get rusty just as quickly. And it’s much better to admit it to yourself (before you make a costly mistake), than to find out the hard way. So the question is: How do you get your mojo back as quickly as possible? Here are some suggestions, and you can throw in your own…

Tip #1, Get off the Highway!
The highway is a great way to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, but it won’t do anything for your riding skills. There are too many old timers with 50k miles under their belts who still don’t know how to really turn their motorcycle.

Tip #2. Sit up straight!
Like yo mamma used to tell you. You might think you’re the master of body position, but in order to get a good feel for your bike (and also tires and suspension), you need to do fewer things for a while. Sit straight and make sure you’re body is fixed on the bike, and focus instead on counter steering, throttle control, and sense of speed.

Tip #3, Relax your back and arms.
You already know, that when you’re riding properly, the bike feels light. You can be on a sportbike with the steering damper maxed out, or a 900lbs cruiser, but when you’re countersteering, and balancing the bike at low speeds using the controls (rather than your body weight), everything FEELS light and easy. Part of this is getting your elbows down so that you’re able to push the bars at a good angle to turn the front wheel…then keeping your arms (and shoulders) loosey goosey. It’s amazing the mental impact doing this can have: making it easier to focus on the important stuff.

Tip #4, Ride short distances…
Long distances are good too, but getting out for a couple of hours every day is better than only riding on the weekend. Small repeated doses of practice does more than single large doses. So go for a quick ride to get that carton milk instead of going to the bodega.

Tip #5, Let your tire tell you about Lean Angle
In some parts of the city you will ALWAYS have chicken strips on your tires. And even if you get them scrubbed off the rear, with many bikes you will always have a centimeter or so on the front. But YOU know how you normally ride and what lean angles you are capable of on the street. So take a look at your tires and see what they’re telling you about your lean angles on your last ride. If you’re rusty, chances are they’re a little bigger than they used to be. That’s natural. Part of getting your mojo back is being able to turn the bike as well as you did previously with similar road conditions… So let your tires tell you how you’re doing with that.

Super Bonus Tip, Have your bike checked out…
Sometimes it’s not you, it’s her…your bike, that is. Suspensions soften, carburetors get clogged, tires can get squared off. If your mojo feels rusty, it’s probably your skills that are off (not your bike), but an out of tune bike doesn’t help. So as long as you’re getting back in riding-shape, might as well do it together with your bike.

Have any other tips for getting ride-worthy? Share the wealth in the comments section! Cheers.

Related posts:

1. Traffic Riding Mojo
2. Hanging off in the corners…done right.
3. My Chicken Strips

New ultra-light rims can cost $2 or $3k.  Adjustable rear sets $400-$600.  Trick folding bar levers $300.  Full exhaust and dyno tuned Power Commander, $1200+.  A license plate bracket and turn signals to clean up the rear end, $200.  These fairly common upgrades don’t even include the track addicts Ohlins setups (add another 4k or so for the latest cartridge kit and rear shock), and track fiberglass (another grand with a paint job)… and they add up to what it would cost you to buy a respectable used bike on Craigslist.  If you see the value in riding a motorcycle pretty much in stock form, I’m with you!  If you brake something, like a rim, I can see paying extra to get something better than what you had – but otherwise stock bikes give you the most bang for your buck.  BUT…  what upgrade is a must-have?  What upgrade could you not live/ride without?

Related posts:

1. Best of both worlds (BOBW 2010)

Whenever I see a track video like this at Thunderbolt, I play a little game I like to call “faster or slower?” You know how it goes, I hit pause when I see the start line, and do the math to check out the lap times and see how it compares to some of mine. This guy is a good bit faster than me… and (it appears) faster than a bunch of other guys in the blue group. And interestingly he takes slightly different lines than I’ve been using, so maybe I can even learn something from this. How about you? Faster or slower? Thanks to obirt0 for the good vid. Cheers!

Related posts:

1. the psychology of slower bikes…
2. Time Waster: Which is faster?
3. Number 93

When it comes to helmets, it’s really a black art. Even the helmet companies don’t seem to know what makes for the best protection; which is why many high priced top of the line helmets don’t get five star SHARP Helmet ratings (and why some low priced bargain helmets do!) So “new” helmet designs are usually a matter of new vents (oooh!) and new aerodynamic shapes (aahhh!) and new colors (gasp!). But the Shark helmet brand really does have a new idea: instead of solid styrofoam covered with a hard plastic or fiberglass shell, they used finned styrofoam (hence the Shark motif) to help absorb energy in a crash. That’s a neat idea. No wonder their helmets generally fare well in independent testing.

Related posts:

1. Helmets
2. SHARP Helmet Ratings
3. Moto-Myth #4: An $800 head?

Kawasaki upped their game on their best selling “sport bike” the Ninja 250R, by making it a 300R (with the same parallel twin) along with a slipper clutch, fuel injection (finally!), and ABS. Honda, meanwhile decided to leave their 250 single alone, and instead build an all-new CBR 500R with a parallel twin engine. I haven’t seen this one up close yet, but will it have all that makes a 250 fun, only with some actual punch for real world riding? Or will it have the same problem as Kawasaki’s 500: too heavy for a small bike, too slow for a mid engine bike? As good as this review is, I think only time + a decent test ride will tell. Personally, for all the decent 600′s on Craigslist for under $5k, I don’t know if I could shell out as much for a bike I couldn’t take to the track… But as a first bike that’s worth keeping around? Maybe it’s not a bad investment. What do you think? Cheers!

Related posts:

1. Panigale Naysayers…
2. Fifty hp Commuters…
3. Star Wars + motorcycles = geek moto-fun

I don’t think electric motorcycles are ready for prime time. Who wants to get stranded on the way to your favorite riding roads? Plus battery packs are still too heavy for any kind of real performance. If you want to save gas, you can get a 250 supermoto or the Ninja 300 for a fraction of the cost of an electric motorcycle. But…electric Scooters just MIGHT make sense right now. Scooters are absurdly light, so adding a little weight wouldn’t hurt. Scooters are also for local riding around town, so range isn’t as much of an issue. Plus, if it looks anything like this KTM Concept, you just might have a new customer… But what do you think?

Related posts:

1. Time Waster: The Electric R1 Future?
2. A ride-worthy electric?
3. They’re almost here… (electric motorcycles)

[Useful review from MCN. Bottom line: forget about traction control and electronic suspension, the base package is good enough to handle whatever roads you got ahead of you]

If you’re anything like me, you might not know what bike this new model is replacing…  BMW has a bunch of sporty GT bikes that go back a long way.  They all do okay in the looks department, even when they have cylinder heads sticking out sideways past the pegs.  They’re known for being a tad boring to ride, but if you translate that into real world language, boring means capable of handling crappy road surfaces, reliable, and easy to ride.  If you’re planning on commuting and going on road trips from time to time, along with quick Costco runs, you WANT something that’s not going to take attention away from your ride and your busy schedule… Forget about the Ducatis and MV’s, this just might be the city bike for you.

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1. What’s the best bike for a Dad to ride?

[Sorry ladies, this post is for the guys.  But if your situation is reversed and the man in your life doesn't want you to ride, then I guess some of this stuff might apply - but probably not]

Alright men,WE know who the real boss is in your relationship. Sometimes it’s the sign of a real man that you have a woman in your life who’s worth giving in to. But when if riding a motorcycle is your dream, then it doesn’t have to be a losing battle. I’ve seen a lot of guys go about this the absolute wrong way, so here’s a tongue in cheek “guide” to getting your butt on a set of wheels.  There are plenty of wives and girlfriends who love their men, and yet are cool with them riding motorcycles: here are some tips on helping her get there…

#1, Take the MSF Course…
You can’t get a motorcycle until you get a motorcycle license. And the best way to get introduced to street riding is by taking a two day Basic Rider Course. Not only do you get to ride around real motorcycles for two days, at the end of the course you get your motorcycle license endorsement (that you mail in to the DMV, and a few weeks later you get your license in the mail).  You can click to find locations around NYC here.

“But my girlfriend isn’t going to be okay with me getting a motorcycle license…” That’s why you don’t SAY you’re doing it to get your license… The Basic Rider Course counts as a “driver education” course that can lower your car insurance rate. Start off by commenting how much you’re paying for car insurance… and suggest that maybe you’ll take one of those driver’s ed classes to get a discount. Then get a buddy to sign up for the class with you.

“But what if she still freaks out that it’s a motorcycle class?” Explain how safe it is, that all the riding takes place in a large parking lot on these tiny training bikes that no one would want to actually ride on the street. Tell her it’s always been a dream to ride a bike, “oh but it’s so dangerous” but now here’s the perfect solution…it’s safe, fun, AND will save money. How responsible is that?

#2, Think Vespa…
Scooters, and Vepsas in particular, are scientifically engineered to appeal to women. They look at it and see Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. They look cute, and almost as important, SAFE. Never mind that modern scooters (over 50cc) are motorcycles that require motorcycle licenses, and can cruise at highways speeds. You want to get the picture into your motorcycle resistant girlfriend/wife’s mind that your motorcycle dream looks something like this:

And not like something out of a B-movie…

After the idea has sunk in for a while, you can start considering bikes like the Vespa 300:

Or the BMW Scooter:

Both great bikes in their own right…  And if you decide to ride either, you probably wouldn’t regret it.  But if you really want a motorcycle or sportbike, these are the gateway drugs…  It’s a small step (performance wise and price wise) to something like the great new Ninja 300 starter bike:

Kawasaki’s new entry level motorcycle is comparable in price and performance to the larger engined scooters.  Or if you don’t like Kawasaki’s there’s also Honda’s CBR 500:

But the key is… These are “entry” level motorcycles that are comparable in speed (and safety) to the scooters you were thinking of.

#3, Stay safe!

Once you get on two wheels the key is to play it safe and responsible.  That means: no close calls.  Wear protective clothing.  Take nice short trips while you build up your riding skills.  Get additional rider training when you can.  Think and talk safety… Not just for your wife or girlfriend’s sake – but because that’s actually how experienced bikers think.  Long time riders are always thinking and talking about safety and ways to reduce risk – that is probably how you get to be a long-time rider.

Conclusion:

As fun as motorcycles appear to non-riders, it’s actually even MORE fun than it looks, and adds to your life in ways that are hard to explain.  Also two wheelers have certain advantages in congested cities like New York (you can get across town in rush hour in five minutes instead of an hour by car).  Starter and scooters are also pretty good on gas (60-100mpg), and a great way for two people to get around the city.  But I don’t need to sell you on this…  Got any other tips for convincing a reluctant wife or girlfriend? Share the wealth in the comments section.

Related posts:

1. NYPD Hard on Bikers?
2. Ride To Work Day – Wednesday July 16!
3. Why ride?

Here’s Colin Edwards giving a talk thru and a ride thru of the new COTA in Austin Texas. Have any of you been out there yet on a bike? A nice trackday video in a classic roadster after the jump.

The open top and no side windows gives a nice view of the track. Marking the turns help too. Cheers!

Related posts:

1. Engage ludicrous speed…
2. Riding to Alice’s Restaurant
3. Knee dragging down Lombard